A Few Good Causes, but Plenty of Time to Spend on Them

WHEN Sanford I. Weill wanted to test the sound of the new concert hall named for him and his wife, Joan, in Sonoma, Calif., he called his friend, the pianist Lang Lang, to stop by on his way to a concert with the San Francisco Symphony and approve the acoustics.

The story not only attests to Mr. Weill’s largess — he and his wife donated $12 million toward the hall — it offers a window into the former financier’s personal approach to giving. He doesn’t fund a lot of different causes; he gets deeply involved in just a few of them.

“My wife and I decided to concentrate on what we do rather than doing a whole host of things,” Mr. Weill said in a recent interview at his expansive Fifth Avenue office with views over Central Park.

Those few causes include Carnegie Hall, Weill Cornell Medical College and the National Academy Foundation, which prepares young people for college and careers; Mr. Weill has long served as chairman of all three. (For Ms. Weill, that cause is mainly Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she has served on the board since 1994 and been chairwoman since 2000.)

Even when he was leading the merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group in 1998 to create the world’s largest financial services concern, Mr. Weill remained philanthropically steadfast. “That’s why I never accept anybody saying they’re too busy to do something,” he said.

Somewhere along the way, he and his wife determined, “shrouds don’t have pockets and don’t try and control the world from the grave,” said Mr. Weill, 80. “So basically we’re trying to do as much as we can while we’re around here.”

Along those lines, Mr. Weill said, they have so far donated about $1 billion of their personal fortune to institutions and nonprofits. “When he’s had his ups and downs, he never walked away from philanthropy,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “He believes, and his wife does, too. They have their causes and he is relentless in getting others to give. One of the things that makes him so successful is, he does it first.”

Some of those “downs” came during Mr. Weill’s sometimes stormy period as Citigroup’s chairman and chief executive, when he fended off criticism of underinvestment and instituting an overly competitive corporate culture. Along the way, helped lead the campaign to repeal the federal law that prevented banks from trading in stocks and bonds — a change that many critics believe helped lead to the financial meltdown of 2008 (Mr. Weill has since changed course, saying that restrictions should be reimposed and some big banks should be broken up).

In 2003, Citigroup was among the Wall Street firms investigated by regulators and agreed to pay $400 million in penalties as part of a settlement over its practices in analyzing stocks.Mr. Weill was nominated to the board of the New York Stock Exchange that year but withdrew his name after Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general, vowed to block him, citing the practices that led to the investigation.

Shortly after that, Mr. Weill announced that he would leave Citigroup, and by April 2006 he was gone, after earning nearly $1 billion in salary, bonuses and options in the preceding decade. Since then, he has devoted more time to his longstanding charitable concerns and even managed to take on the new one in California: the Green Music Center’s concert hall at Sonoma State University. In 2011, he and his wife announced their donation toward the completion of the $130 million hall — the largest cash gift in the university’s history — which opened last year.

Mr. Weill also recently helped broker an agreement whereby Zarin Mehta, the former president of the New York Philharmonic, will head the Green Center.

His friends — who call him Sandy — say that if he believes in something, he makes it happen — like Carnegie Hall’s new education wing in its renovated “studio towers.” The Weills donated $25 million to the $230 million project and, when fund-raising reached $200 million, stepped up again with a matching grant of $10 million. If he wants to get something done, he picks up the phone; Mr. Weill said he spends much of his time helping friends connect with the medical care they seek at Weill Cornell.

The executives who run the organizations Mr. Weill cares most about say he manages to be fully engaged without being meddlesome. “He’s not there to be a passive chairman,” said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic director. “We meet every month, at least. If there are issues, we might be on the phone every day. I keep him updated weekly with a memo so he always knows everything that’s going on.”

At the same time, “he’s somebody who knows what he doesn’t know — in terms of music,” Mr. Gillinson added. “He’s very good about stepping back and being clear that he shouldn’t be interfering in artistic decisions. He may make suggestions. But he never uses his position as chairman to push an agenda.”

They also describe Mr. Weill as likable, citing his warmth and self-deprecating sense of humor (having played bass in the band at Peekskill Military Academy, he said he used to think “the world’s greatest composer was John Philip Sousa”).

“He’s been much more than one of the most generous benefactors in the history of higher education,” said David J. Skorton, the president of Mr. Weill’s alma mater, Cornell University. “He’s been a mentor to me.”

The other day, wearing red pinstripe shirt sleeves and Camp David cuff links (President Ford was a friend), Mr. Weill was not an imposing presence. With a picture of his childhood home in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, on the wall behind him, Mr. Weill spoke of his humble beginnings — how his first job was selling heavy reverse telephone directories door-to-door for $40 each (“After selling only one book in 10 days,” he said. “I realized it wasn’t a career for me.”)

“I was nervous before I met him,” said Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, who was appointed dean of Weill Cornell in 2011. “I went into his office and within five minutes we were friends because he’s very, very down to earth.”

But while Mr. Weill may be low-key, he does not keep a low profile. He and his wife are fixtures on the charity circuit. And he has not been shy about attaching his name to things (see Weill Recital Hall, the Weill Music Institute, the Weill Bugando University of College of Health Sciences). “I’m not a good speller,” he quipped. “I don’t know how to spell anonymous.”

These days, Mr. Weill continues to have a full schedule attending board meetings, openings and galas. There are plenty of projects to keep him busy. Weill Cornell is completing a $650 million research tower on East 69th Street.

The National Academy, which he founded in 1982, now serves 62,000 children across the country and hopes to reach 100,000 by 2020. “That’s responsible for this part of my gray hair,” Mr. Weill said.

Of course, Mr. Weill also has to take time out to be feted. Last month, he received the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award, at the restaurant Per Se with Mr. Lang, who performed and called Mr. Weill “my favorite man on earth.”

In an interview, Mr. Weill added that it was more important than ever these days for donors to do their share. “Our governmental bodies don’t have any money anymore,” he said. “Where else can you go? You’ve got to think about public-private partnerships.”

A version of this article appears in print on , Section F, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: A Few Good Causes, But Plenty of Time To Spend on Them. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe